‘Ride Along 3’ Accelerates Forward: Ice Cube & Kevin Hart Taps New Writer After Years in Development
Momentum is finally returning to a fan-favorite franchise as “Ride Along 3” is once again in early development after a decade of pause. The first two installments both did well at the box office when they hit theaters. While details remain tightly under wraps, the renewed movement alone is enough to spark excitement—promising that there is, indeed, more story waiting to be told.
“Ride Along 3” In Early Development
It has been a decade since audiences saw Kevin Hart and Ice Cube team up in the funny buddy-cop “Ride Along” franchise. The sequel, “Ride Along 2,” hit theaters in 2016, and the first one hit the big screens in 2014. It looks like the long-awaited third movie is finally gaining ground.
According to Nerdist, Hart talked about his chemistry with Ice Cube, promoting the first film, and said,
“The chemistry on film is amazing, and when you talk about those other movies, the “Lethal Weapons” the Mel Gibsons and Danny Glovers, when you talk about “Bad Boys,” when you talk about Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, when you go to “48 Hours” with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, the chemistry was there.”
Let’s be honest for a second. Did anyone actually have a third installment of this particular Ice Cube and Kevin Hart vehicle on their bingo card? Probably not. The first film was a massive, unexpected hit, and the sequel did respectable numbers, but ten years is an absolute eternity in the entertainment industry. Yet, here we are, dusting off the badge, warming up the patrol car, and gearing up for another ride.
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A Decade in Development Hell for “Ride Along 3”
It’s almost comical to think about exactly how long the producers have been trying to get “Ride Along 3” off the ground. For nearly ten years, the creative team has been banging their heads against the wall, trying to find a way to make the magic happen one more time. You have to admire that level of stubborn dedication. Most of us give up on a new hobby after three weeks, but Universal has been holding a torch for this sequel for an entire decade.
Ice Cube spoke about getting together with Hart to start a franchise while promoting the first film. Per Associated Press, he said,
“We had the movie for five or six years and we saw Kevin Hart blowing up. We knew we could throw a few folks in that I’d worked with in the past, but we wanted it to feel fresh. It became a dream team.”
The original film made a staggering $155 million, largely coasting on the undeniable odd-couple chemistry between Hart’s hyperactive, fast-talking security guard and Cube’s perpetually scowling, unamused police officer. The sequel followed up with a solid $125 million haul. So, the financial incentive was always there. The real question is, what exactly took them so long? Was it a massive scheduling conflict? A lack of a good script? Or did everyone just collectively forget about it until a studio executive found an old Post-it note stuck under their desk?
The Shifting Landscape of Big-Screen Comedy
The delay likely comes down to the brutal reality of the modern box office. Theatrical comedies have essentially been put on life support over the last several years. Major studios are absolutely terrified of putting a pure comedy on the big screen unless it has a spandex-clad superhero attached to it. Instead, the comedy genre has been unceremoniously dumped onto streaming platforms.
Netflix and Prime Video have become the de facto retirement homes for broad comedies starring the likes of Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, and, ironically enough, Kevin Hart himself. Getting a studio to commit to a theatrical release for “Ride Along 3” in this climate is nothing short of a minor miracle. It’s a massive gamble, but if anyone can yell audiences back into theater seats, it’s probably Hart.
The Dream Team Is Back (With Some Fresh Blood)
Of course, it wouldn’t be a true sequel without the original crew. Director Tim Story and producer Will Packer are both officially back on board, ready to recapture whatever lightning they caught in a bottle back in the mid-2010s. But the biggest, most surprising piece of news is who they’ve tapped to actually write the thing. Daniel Gold, the writer behind the aggressively funny comedy series “Workin’ Moms,” has been handed the keys to the script.
This is exactly the kind of weird, out-of-left-field hiring choice that might just save this movie. Gold recently sparked a massive Hollywood bidding war with his spec script “Tough Guys,” so he clearly knows how to write a punchline. Bringing in someone with that kind of fresh, sharp comedic sensibility to polish up a decade-old buddy-cop dynamic is honestly the smartest move Universal has made here.
What Have Cube and Hart Been Up To?
It’s not like the stars have just been sitting by the phone waiting for “Ride Along 3” to get greenlit. Both actors have been ridiculously busy. Hart is literally about to reunite with Tim Story for an upcoming Netflix comedy titled “72 Hours.” Meanwhile, Ice Cube has been bouncing around some truly wild projects, starring in “War of the Worlds” and even playing himself in the recent “Anaconda” reboot. (Yes, you read that correctly. Ice Cube fought a giant snake as himself. Cinema is truly healing.)
Will the ten-year wait be worth it? It’s hard to say. The buddy-cop genre is practically a fossil at this point, but there’s a strange, nostalgic comfort in knowing we might get to watch Ice Cube glare menacingly at Kevin Hart for another two hours. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take them another ten years to actually start filming.
